Hiroshi Nagai

Hiroshi Nagai (born December 22, 1947) is a Japanese graphic designer and illustrator, known for his cover designs of city pop albums in the 1980's, which established the recognizable visual aesthetic associated with the musically loosely defined genre.[1][2][3][4]

For the Japanese writer, see Yasutaka Nagai.

Biography

Nagai was born on December 22, 1947, in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan.[5][6] He was inspired to become an artist by his father who enjoyed oil-painted landscapes. Later, Nagai traveled to Tokyo, where he attemped to join art school, in which he was rejected.[7] After a visit to the United States and Guam in 1975, he was impressed by its scenery, which became the starting point of his subsequent style. Gaining an interest in pop art, he took inspiration from English artist David Hockney. Americana became a key component in his art.[8]

From the 1980s onward, he created tropical and clear landscape illustrations as typified by the record jackets of Eiichi Otaki's A Long Vacation and Niagara Song Book.

As city pop gained renewed interest at the turn of the century, and especially in the YouTube era, Nagai's work—having influenced the 21st century vaporwave style[4]—gained wider recognition,[9] to the extent that, in 2022, BroadwayWorld described him as a "legendary artist".[10]

References
  1. Blistein, Jon (May 2, 2019). "City Pop: Why Does the Soundtrack to Tokyo's Tech Boom Still Resonate?". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  2. Russell, Stephen A. (September 24, 2020). "Dive into Japanese artist Hiroshi Nagai's pop art exhibition". Time Out Sydney. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  3. Bloom, Madison (March 9, 2019). "Light in the Attic to Release Japanese "City Pop" Compilation". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  4. "Hiroshi Nagai: Paintings for Music at The Japan Foundation Gallery, Sydney". Broadsheet. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  5. "NITEFLYTE – Hiroshi Nagai Art works". Japanese Creative Bookstore. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  6. "Hiroshi Nagai: Paintings for Music". The Japan Foundation, Sydney. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  7. "【対談】同じ道を、旅した2人の「時代と文化」（永井博 × 佐藤達郎）". 永井博 × デルフォニックス ｜ HIROSHI NAGAI × DELFONICS.
  8. "HIROSHI NAGAI: Japan's Sun-drenched Americana". tokyo cowboy. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  9. Raissi, Siavash (November 4, 2021). "Weekender: The revival of city pop: The soundtrack of 80s Japan". The Tufts Daily. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  10. Major, Michael. "Light in the Attic to Release 'Pacific Breeze 3: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1975-1987'". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved February 3, 2023.


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